![]() This second month of the hobbits corresponds to the period between our 22 January and 20 February. The Shire Calendar: The second month bears the name Solmath and is based on the Old English Sol-mōnaþ, which means “mud-month”. Thus, Bear Island is the perfect place for GRRM to include yet another reference to the Old English poem. ![]() Tolkien “Beowulf” – wolf of the bees – might be a poetic description, a kenning, for “bear”. It is also worth to mention that according to J.R.R. In the epic Beowulf defends King Hrothgar’s magnificent mead-hall Heorot, located on one of the Danish islands, and wrestles with the monster. Here the Stark King parallels Beowulf (Bee-wolf) and his Ironborn rival would be Grendel, the accursed descendant of Cain. The legend in which king Rodrik Stark wins Bear Island from the Ironborn in a wrestling match is possibly another reference to “Beowulf”. It appears that Bede ommits “after” and “before” in all month names which have them. ![]() In Saint Bede the Venerable’s account this month is called Giuli and the scholar gives “Januarius” as its Latin equivalent. Modern “after” descends from “æfter”, and “gēola” is Yule. The name comes from Old English month Æfterra Gēola, = “after Yule”, with Yule being the Midwinter festival. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” is Afteryule, which corresponds to the period between 23 December and 21 January in the Gregorian Calendar. The Shire Calendar: The first month in the Shire Calendar from J.R.R. Neither Grendel nor Gendel ever emerge alive. He cut his way free, through the crows, and led his people back north with the wolves howling at their heels” (A Storm of Swords, Jon III).įollowing his encounter with Beowulf, Grendel flees to his underwater cave, whereas Gendel also escapes and enters the caverns underneath the Wall (made of frozen water). Gendel parallels Grendel the monster, and the Starks who defeated and chased him away are a reference to Beowulf (Bee-wolf), the heroic warrior who defeats Grendel: “Gendel did not die. In my Polish Taniec z Mitami: G(r)endel and Gorne (A Dance with Myths…) essay I suggest that the Free Folk legend of Gendel and Gorne is a reference to the Old English epic poem “Beowulf”. ![]() Julius Arthur Thiele (1841–1919), “Deer in a Winter Woodland” (Wikimedia Commons) ![]()
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